David Liptak - composer

Concerto for Piano and Percussion Orchestra (2018)
piano solo and six percussionists
1. Dark and mysterious, 2. Flowing, but not too fast, 3. Rapid and light
premiere performance in Tampa by Eunmi Ko, piano, with the McCormick Percussion Group, Robert McCormick, director; April 7th, 2018
21 minutes, ACE

Concerto for Piano and Percussion Orchestra was composed for percussionist Robert McCormick, who first suggested that I write such a piece, and pianist Eunmi Ko, who plays my solo piano music with imagination, grace, and understanding. The choice of a percussion ensemble as the orchestral partner to the piano is also a natural one for me, offering clarity and precision that suits my musical temperament. There are three movements, I. Dark and mysterious, 2. Flowing, but not too fast, and 3. Rapid and light. The six percussionist perform on an array of instruments that include drums, cymbals and gongs, wooden instruments, shakers, and mallet percussion instruments.   - DL

Through the Brightening Air for wind orchestra (2017)

5 minutes, ACE

Composed for Brad Lubman and the Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble, who gave the first performance with pianist Albert Kim in December, 2009.
10 minutes, ACE

Concerto for Viola and Percussion for solo viola and percussion quartet (2005)

Composed for violist John Graham, who gave the first performances of the work in 2006 at the Eastman School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival. Recorded by John Graham and the McCormick Percussion Group, Robert McCormick, director, on the Ravello label in 2009.
18 minutes, ACE

"David Liptak's 'Concerto for Viola and Four Percussion' turned out to be contemporary music at its level best: It was original and adventurous, but it wore these attributes lightly and unselfconsciously. The piece used xylophone, gong, chimes, snare drum and an array of other instruments that seemingly left no percussion sound unexplored. It was, in effect, a sparkiling work that included some of the most ardent viola writing imaginable."
-John Pitcher, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 4/19/06

Alive (2013)
percussion sextet: 3 marimbas, 2 vibraphones, xylophone and chimes
5 minutes ACE

Octet "It Began With a Dream" for flute, clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, and 2 trombones (2005, revised 2015)
10 minutes, ACE

11 minutes, ACE

Recording on Bridge Records by Chien-Kwan Lin, saxophone solo, and string orchestra conducted by Brad Lubman.
20 minutes, KC full score, solo part, score and parts

"Music of David Liptak (Eastman Philharmonia, Brad Lubman, Chien-Kwan Lin, et al.) Another Eastman professor, Liptak is more of a traditional composer. All the same, he writes some of the most luminous and arresting music around, as evidenced by the breathtaking account saxophonist Lin and conductor Lubman give of his Serenade." 
-John Pitcher, Staff music critic Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 12/30/05

Broken Cries for eight cellos (2001)

Recording by the Tarab Cello Ensemble on Bridge Records
10 minutes, ACE

Commissioned by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hanson Intstitute for American Music; premiered in 1997 by the RPO.
8 minutes, KC full score, score and parts

"In Liptak's Northern Light, Bay revealed the beauties of a Stravinsky-esque ballet; transparent textures, incisive rhythms, shimmering lightness despite the large orchestra. Commissioned for the RPO's 75th year, the eight-minute overture ... forecast the evening's festive spirit and music-making."
-Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 1/31/98

"In between these two favorites was David Liptak's brand-new Northern Light. I liked this piece the first time around, even more the second. It is simply constructed and lucidly, sometimes luminously scored; propulsively rhythmic opening and closing sections recalling Stravinsky's Symphony in C surround a brief, mysterious slow section. Best of all is Northern Light's coda, in which the music briefly and simply dissolves: an effect perfectly timed by the composer and the players." 
-City Newspaper, Rochester, 10/7/98

25 minutes, KC score, score and parts

"The highlight of the program, which repeats tonight, was the world premiere of Rochester composer David Liptak's innovative and vibrant Trumpet Concerto. ... The first of three movements intersperses solo trumpet cadenzas with orchestral passages, which trade dissonant harmonies in imitative counterpoint between sections of the orchestra. ... In the second movement, dedicated to the late RPO cellist Lynn Kahle Richmond, Liptak demonstrates and inventive compositional style by using lyrical orchestration to alternately introduce and support the solo themes. The cello section brings in the movement with a mysterious passage that leads to an upper-register solo, which Merkelo seemed to achieve effortlessly. Liptak uses dramatic and emotional contrasts, mixing lyricism with growling articulation in the solo passages while maintaining a lyrical undercurrent in the orchestral parts. The lyricism evolves to a fugue that weaves an intricate harmonic tapestry and culminates in rumbling comments from the bassoon, which has the last word here. Merkelo (soloist Paul Merkelo) sped into the final Presto movement, wowing the audience with his impeccable, swift articulation. In this movement, Liptak creates an urgent, restless excitement by combining timpani with horns, using two ratchets in opposing polyrhythms and setting up fresh harmonic relationships between solo trumpet and violas in contrary motion. This delightful and imaginative piece becomes compelling as the drama mounts and accelerates to a close." 
-Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 4/20/96

Chasm for concert band (1998)
6 minutes, KC full score, score and parts

The Sacred Harp for wind ensemble (1994)
Commissioned in celebration of the inauguration of Thomas Jackson as President of the University of Rochester.
Recorded by the Tokyl Kosei Wind Orchestra, Donald Hunsberger, conductor, and distributed by the Kosei Publishing Company

8 minutes, Alfred Music

Loner for orchestra (1988)
8 minutes, KC full score, score and parts

Chamber Concerto No. 2 "Dark Angels" for solo trombone, flute, violin, cello, vibraphone, and piano (1979, revised 2020)

Premiere performance by Curtis Olson, trombone, at Michigan State University in January, 1980.
11 minutes, ACE

Chamber Concerto No. 1 for solo clarinet and percussion quartet (1978, 2020 edition)

Composed for clarinetist Fred Ormand, who premiered the piece on August 16th, 1978, at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming.
10 minutes, ACE

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